Category: Philosophies of Business

Segmentation: WHO Needs It? Segmentation can cause contentious debates between Market Researchers. On one hand, Marketers and Market Researchers who love it, swear by it. They believe that by deeply understanding which consumer segments they need to target, they can better design products and propositions. On the other hand, quant-focused researchers like volume forecasters and […]

The Future of Market Research, a 2017 Perspective The first quarter of 2017 has seen several major research conferences and articles published on the future of market research. It’s exciting to read these articles and think about what lies ahead for our industry. Focusing on the near-term, I’ve selected several articles I think give a […]

Five Things to Remember When You are “the American” on a Global Research Team When I was a young man, I spent six years doing global research projects. Some of that time, I was working in the public sector. However, I spent the majority of that time as a global researcher in the CPG industry. […]

Does Your Brand Portfolio Suffer From the “Ship of Theseus” Problem? The Ship of Theseus Problem was first raised by Plutarch and discussed by philosophers throughout the ages. The question refers to the preservation of the fabled Ship of Theseus in Athens. As the story goes, once Theseus slayed the Minotaur and returned to Athens, […]

Market Research Suppliers Delight Their Clients When They . . . Market research suppliers are at their best and most valuable, when they are research and business partners with their insight managers. There are several ways for market research suppliers to add value. Three ways that help them be true partners are covered in this […]

“Objectivity is Not Neutrality” — Words Market Researchers Should Live By I really wish I could take credit for the phrase, “Objectivity is not neutrality.” Unfortunately, that credit goes to Dr. Thomas L. Haskell, a Professor Emeritus of History at Rice University. I read Dr. Haskell’s book when I was in graduate school. When people […]

Three Tough Conversations When Managing Market Researchers Managing market researchers is a very rewarding experience. However, it can also require tough conversations periodically. Many of the young managers entering the insights profession in recent years are smart and often they are used to finishing first or near the top of the class. When they enter […]

The Role of Watson and Artificial Intelligence in Market Research IBM’s Watson and artificial intelligence in general will play a large role in the market research field. In order to better understand the role of IBM Watson and artificial intelligence (AI) in the market research profession, we should first spend a few minutes understanding how […]

How Shopper Insights Managers Break-Down Category Growth One of the biggest differences between consumer insights managers and shopper insights managers is the focus of their roles. In shopper insights — whether you support sales or category management — your focus is growing categories and departments. In contrast, consumer insights managers focus on growing individual brands. […]

Let Go of What’s Precious and Focus on the Research Recommendations Think about the research results presentations you have seen in your career. There’s a pretty standard flow to them, right? They usually go something like this — starting with Objectives and ending with Research Recommendations, with a bunch of stuff in the middle: Introduction […]